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Qualico Communities hits a milestone in Nature Conservancy of Canada

Winnipeg | Feb 25, 2016

In 2013, Qualico Communities Winnipeg partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Manitoba Region (NCC) to support the preservation of important Manitoba habitats and ecosystems, in particular, the Assiniboine Delta. The Assiniboine Delta is a vast region of the province that follows the Assiniboine River and lies generally between Brandon, Neepawa and Portage la Prairie. It is an area of rare geological formation with unique biodiversity – a mosaic of sandy forest and prairie with uncommon plants and animals dependent on the sandy soil. Only 7% of the area has been protected and NCC Manitoba is working to increase that coverage.

NCC Manitoba land preservation project area Whitemouth river watershed

Qualico Communities Winnipeg recommitted in early 2015 to a second two-year term of the partnership, carrying it through to the end of 2016. By the end of 2015, Qualico Communities had hit a milestone of contributing over $125,000 in donations to NCC Manitoba since 2013. These funds assist the NCC Manitoba to acquire land to be protected. The donations are calculated quarterly based on fixed dollar amount for every lot sold by Qualico Communities Winnipeg.

2015 was a big year for milestones for the NCC Manitoba as they also completed their 200th land conservation project since their inception in 1978. To date, the NCC has protected and continues to steward nearly 63,000 acres in Manitoba.

“Partnering with the NCC was simply the right thing to do. It has given us the opportunity to ensure certain valuable and memorable landscapes in Manitoba remain in place; not only for the benefit of preserving their ecosystems, but for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren,’ says Qualico Communities Winnipeg Vice-President, Eric Vogan. ‘It is a natural extension of the work we’ve been doing in our new communities for years. We have been incorporating naturalized parks and wetlands because it not only offers the benefits of sustainability to all stakeholders, but also the opportunity to appreciate an aesthetic native to Manitoba.”

Protected land through NCC Manitoba provides safe habitats for species like these burrowing owls.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the nation’s leading not-for-profit, private land conservation organization, working to protect our most important natural areas and the species they sustain. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to protect more than 2.8 million acres (more than 1.1 million hectares), coast to coast.